Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Notes From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 14 Another Beer, Please, For the Subway Series

Notes
From the Captain Lawrence Tasting Room, Vol. 14

Another Beer, Please,
For the Subway Series

As we’ve
noted in this space before, beer and baseball make for an unbeatable partnership.
So, with the Yankees-Mets Subway Series on us in a matter of days, we looked to
stoke a little debate by gathering a prominent Yanks blogger and a Mets counterpart
around the same tasting room table to break down the Series--and of course
sample a few brews.

Johan Santana’s unforgettable no-hitter is still
fresh in every Met fan’s mind. So when asked to grade the Mets’ performance
thus far in 2012, Matthew Artus of
the lively blue-and-orange blog Amazin’ Avenue [amazinavenue.com] cops to being
a bit giddy. “You picked the right day to ask,” says Matthew, sporting a Long
Live the Mets t-shirt, over a Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA (“a nice
balance of flavors,” he says.)
“They’ve probably exceeded all expectations.”

With David Wright playing like an MVP, some
less likely standouts emerging, and the Madoff legal woes in the rear view, Matthew
gives the Amazin’s an A.

Across
the table, in the Yankees cap, Ben Kabak
of the brilliant Yankees insider site River Avenue Blues [riveraveblues.com] is
less enthused about the inconsistent Bombers. “They were supposed to be the
clear favorite in the AL East,” he says, “and right now there is no clear
favorite in the AL East.”

Ben
gives the Yankees a B or B-.

Well, a
Yankees team playing at B level and a Mets squad at an A (the tied-for-1st
Mets, at least of presstime) makes for a fairly even matchup, at least on
paper, for the Bronx showdown starting June 8. Ben predicts 2 out of 3 for the
Yanks. Matthew forecasts 2 out of 3 for the Mets, and says he’ll consider
“upgrading” that if Johan Santana’s next start is postponed to the weekend.

Despite
their rooting differences, Ben and Matthew have a lot in common. Both are New
York City natives (Ben is from the Upper West Side, Matthew is from Brooklyn)
with no discernible accent, both regret passing up a chance to see Santana’s masterpiece
in person, are within a year of 30 (Ben is 29, Matthew is 31), and are avid
craft beer consumers--which seems to go hand in hand with blogging
baseball.

We try
the Kolsch. Ben, an attorney, calls it “a good summer beer—fairly easy to
drink. You don’t feel like you have two and want to pass out.”

Matthew,
who works for WWE (he’s wrestler-big, but is actually a multimedia producer for
Vince McMahon’s outfit), adds, “It
encourages you to unwind, take it easy.”

While
Yankee Stadium may have the mystique, Ben concedes that Citi Field has the
better brews. “I have beer issues with Yankee Stadium,” he says. “The selection
there kind of sucks.”

Ben says
the Mets have done a better job incorporating local beer into their lineup, but
finds a Goose Island IPA or two at the Stadium works fine by him.

Matthew’s
beer choice is usually tied to what he’s eating at Citi, though the Blue Point
Toasted Lager is his go-to tap out in Queens.

We move
on to the St. Vincent’s Dubbel, a malty Belgian-style abbey ale named not for
former Mets speedster/malcontent Vince
Coleman, Yankee Stadium bleacher creature “Bald Vinny” Milano, Joe DiMaggio’s
least famous brother, or former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent--but for Captain Lawrence owner Scott Vaccaro’s father.

“Smoky,”
says Ben.

“These
tend to get too heavy,” notes Matthew. “This is just right.”

Also
tending towards heavy is the hype surrounding the interleague showdown. While
both baseball scribes acknowledge that Mets vs. Yanks, happening regularly
since 1997, has all but lost its novelty, there’s still something to be said
for a packed stadium, the casual New York fan’s reinvigorated passion, a little
trash talking and, most important, the bragging rights at stake between
friends, family and co-workers.

“It’s
not a series you circle on the calendar anymore,” says Matthew. “But it’s more
than just an average weekend series—it does mean a little more.”